Method and apparatus for piezoelectric injection of agent into exhaust gas for use with emission abatement device

ABSTRACT

An apparatus comprises an exhaust gas system and a piezoelectric device. The piezoelectric device is configured to inject an agent into the exhaust gas system for delivery to an emission abatement device of the exhaust gas system. An associated method is disclosed.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to methods and apparatus for treatment of emissions present in exhaust gas.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Emission abatement devices are used to treat emissions present in exhaust gas. For example, there are NOx traps, particulate filters, and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) devices. From time to time, NOx traps and particulate filters may need to be “regenerated” to purge them of emissions trapped thereby. A regenerative agent may be injected into the exhaust gas to facilitate such regeneration. In addition, there are SCR devices which operate in conjunction with an agent injected into the exhaust gas stream to facilitate removal of NOx therefrom. This application relates to enhancements in the injection of regenerative agents and other agents into the exhaust gas for use with emission abatement devices.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an apparatus having an exhaust system and a piezoelectric device. The piezoelectric device is configured to inject an agent into the exhaust gas system for delivery of the agent to an emission abatement device of the exhaust gas system. The agent may be, for example, a hydrocarbon fuel for use in regeneration of a NOx trap and/or a particulate abatement device. In other cases, the agent may be, for example, urea for use with an SCR device to remove NOx from exhaust gas. An associated method is disclosed.

The above and other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description and the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram showing an apparatus that employs piezoelectric injection of an agent into an exhaust gas system for use with a downstream emission abatement device; and

FIG. 2 is an enlarged diagrammatic view of the piezoelectric device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the concepts of the present disclosure are susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific exemplary embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives following within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an apparatus 10 including an piezoelectric injection system 12. The piezoelectric injection system 12 has a piezoelectric device 14 configured to inject an agent into a stream of exhaust gas (“EG”) flowing through an exhaust gas line 15 of an exhaust gas system 16 extending between an internal combustion engine 17 (e.g., a diesel engine) and an emission abatement device 18 of the exhaust gas system 16. The agent injected into the exhaust gas line 15 by use of the piezoelectric device 14 is then advanced through the line 15 to the emission abatement device 18 for use therewith as discussed in more detail below.

Such an arrangement reduces power consumption and avoids “thermal lag” and use of supplemental injection air. In particular, since there is no heating of the agent to vaporization, both power consumption and thermal lag associated with such heating is avoided. In addition, since operation of the piezoelectric device 14 provides sufficient force for injecting the agent, there is no need to use supplemental air to assist with injection of the agent.

The piezoelectric injection system 12 includes a controller 20 for controlling operation of the piezoelectric device 14 and a pump 22. The controller 20 is electrically coupled to the piezoelectric device 14 via an electrical line 24 and is electrically coupled to the pump 22 via an electrical line 26. The pump 22 is operable to pump the agent from an agent supply 28 to the piezoelectric device 14. When operated by the controller 20, the piezoelectric device 14 further pressurizes the agent to inject the agent into an exhaust gas passageway (not shown) extending through the line 15 and containing the emission abatement device 18.

The controller 20 may control operation of the piezoelectric device 14 according to a variety of schemes. For example, the controller 20 may control operation of the piezoelectric device 14 according to a time-base scheme or a sensor-based scheme. In the case of a time-based scheme, the controller 20 may operate the piezoelectric device 14 for a predetermined period of time and cease operation of the piezoelectric device 14 for a predetermined period of time, the length of the time periods depending on such factors as the type of emission abatement device to receive the injected agent.

In the case of a sensor-based scheme, the piezoelectric injection system 12 includes one or more sensors 36 for sensing one or more parameters associated with the exhaust gas stream. Each sensor 36 is electrically coupled to the controller 20 via an electrical line 38 to provide information indicative of the sensed parameter to the controller 20. For example, the sensor(s) 36 may include a NOx sensor upstream and/or downstream from the emission abatement device 18. This may be particularly useful when the emission abatement device 18 includes a NOx trap, an SCR device, and/or other NOx abatement device. In other examples, the sensor(s) 36 may include one or more pressure sensors to detect a pressure drop across the emission abatement device 18 or other pressure(s) upstream and/or downstream from the emission abatement device 18. This may be particularly useful when the emission abatement device 18 includes a particulate abatement device and/or a NOx trap.

Referring to FIG. 2, the piezoelectric device 14 includes one or more piezoelectric crystals 30 mounted in a housing 32 and electrically coupled to the controller 20 via the electrical line 24. Each crystal 30 is positioned in an agent supply passageway 34 defined at least in part by the housing 32 and extending between the agent supply 28 and the exhaust gas line 15. Each crystal 30 is configured to vibrate so as to expand and contract (as indicated by outwardly bowed dashed lines in FIG. 2) in response to application of an electrical current from the electrical line 24. Crystal expansion provides the injection force for injecting the agent. Crystal contraction facilitates drawing the agent into the housing 32.

Referring back to FIG. 1, as alluded to above, the emission abatement device 18 may be configured in a variety of ways. For example, the emission abatement device may be configured as a NOx trap, an SCR device, and/or a particulate abatement device.

In the case where the emission abatement device 18 is a NOx trap, the agent is a regenerative agent such as hydrocarbon fuel (e.g., diesel fuel) for regenerating the NOx trap. To regenerate the NOx trap (i.e., reduce NOx trapped thereby into N₂ and other substances), the controller 20 operates the piezoelectric device 14 from time to time (e.g., every 60 seconds) to inject into the exhaust gas line 15 hydrocarbon fuel supplied by the agent supply 28. The injected hydrocarbon fuel is then advanced to the NOx trap to regenerate the NOx trap.

In the case where the emission abatement device 18 is an SCR device, the agent is urea which the SCR device uses to reduce NOx present in the exhaust gas stream. The controller 20 operates the piezoelectric device 14 to inject into the exhaust gas line 15 urea supplied by the agent supply 28. The injected urea is then advanced to the SCR device for reduction of NOx. In this way, urea can be injected almost continuously at varying rates as needed to achieve continuous reduction of NOx.

In the case where the emission abatement device 18 is a particulate abatement device, the agent is a regenerative agent such as hydrocarbon fuel (e.g., diesel fuel) for regenerating a particulate filter of the particulate abatement device (e.g., a diesel particulate filter or “DPF”). To regenerate the particulate filter (i.e., burn particulate matter trapped thereby), the controller 20 operates the piezoelectric device 14 from time to time to inject into exhaust gas line 15 hydrocarbon fuel supplied by the agent supply 28. The injected fuel is then advanced to the particulate abatement device where another component of the particulate abatement device oxidizes the fuel to create an exotherm that heats the particulate filter to burn particulate matter trapped thereby.

The additional component may take a variety of forms. For example, it may be an oxidation catalyst (e.g., diesel oxidation catalyst or “DOC”) upstream from the particulate filter. In another implementation, it may be the NOx trap portion of an integrated Diesel Particulate-NOx Reduction device (i.e., a “DPNR device”). In yet another implementation, it may be a separate NOx trap upstream from the particulate filter.

While the concepts of the present disclosure have been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such an illustration and description is to be considered as exemplary and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the illustrative embodiments have been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the disclosure are desired to be protected.

There are a plurality of advantages of the concepts of the present disclosure arising from the various features of the systems described herein. It will be noted that alternative embodiments of each of the systems of the present disclosure may not include all of the features described yet still benefit from at least some of the advantages of such features. Those of ordinary skill in the art may readily devise their own implementations of a system that incorporate one or more of the features of the present disclosure and fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

1. A method, comprising the steps of: operating a piezoelectric device so as to inject an agent into an exhaust gas stream, and advancing the injected agent to an emission abatement device.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating step comprises vibrating the piezoelectric device in an agent supply passageway.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating step comprises operating a controller so as to control operation of the piezoelectric device.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating step comprises operating the piezoelectric device according to a time-based scheme.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the operating step comprises operating the piezoelectric device in response to sensing a parameter associated with the exhaust gas stream.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the sensing step comprises sensing NOx in the exhaust gas stream.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the sensing step comprises sensing a pressure in the exhaust gas stream.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein: the operating step comprises operating the piezoelectric device so as to inject hydrocarbon fuel into the exhaust gas stream, and the advancing step comprises advancing the injected hydrocarbon fuel to the emission abatement device.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the advancing step comprises advancing the injected hydrocarbon fuel to a NOx trap.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the advancing step comprises advancing the injected hydrocarbon fuel to a particulate abatement device.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein: the operating step comprises operating the piezoelectric device so as to inject urea into the exhaust gas stream, and the advancing step comprises advancing the injected urea to a selective catalytic reduction device.
 12. An apparatus, comprising: an exhaust gas system comprising an emission abatement device, and a piezoelectric device configured to inject an agent into the exhaust gas system for delivery of the agent to the emission abatement device.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the piezeoelectric device is positioned in an agent supply passageway to inject the agent in response to vibration of the piezoelectric device.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a controller electrically coupled to the piezoelectric device.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to operate the piezoelectric device according to a time-based scheme.
 16. The apparatus of claim 14, further comprising a sensor fluidly coupled to the exhaust system, wherein the controller is electrically coupled to the sensor to operate the piezoelectric device in response to operation of the sensor.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the sensor is one of a NOx sensor and a pressure sensor.
 18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the emission abatement device comprises a NOx trap fluidly coupled to the piezoelectric device to receive the agent injected thereby.
 19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the emission abatement device comprises a particulate abatement device fluidly coupled to the piezoelectric device to receive the agent injected thereby.
 20. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the emission abatement device comprises a selective catalytic reduction device fluidly coupled to the piezoelectric device to receive the agent injected thereby. 